The Touch of the Guardian
by MissShalotte
Summary: After Sin Yuna felt something was missing, antisocial men who fell from the sky however were not on her list; and Squall defiantly didn't think getting over Rinoa would involve an ex-priestess in hot pants, but sometimes hope comes in the strangest forms.
1. Prologue Part 1  Yuna's Story

*Disclaimer* I own none of the Final Fantasy franchise and all that affiliated with it. I also do not own the plot, credit to which goes to LadyYuna10 my co-writer who which I beta for. Now lets get down to business shall we.

As she walked along the Besaid docks the sea a deep black the moonlight reflecting off the waves Yuna's thoughts turned back to him. Despite all that had taken place, defeating Vegnagun and saving Spira again from ruin and consequently uniting the political factions that had been so lost without a cause the young ex summoner still felt as though a piece was missing. That man, the one she had met here on the island when she was first setting out on her now legendary journey. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember who he was, not his name or his face, it was as if all those memories had been sucked away leaving only the stories he had told and the places they'd been, she had spent days trying to remember but to no avail the others too were unable to recall who their extra companion had been and had put it down to their prolonged exposure to sin, but she just couldn't let go like the others had, to have travelled with them he must have been close to her so why couldn't she remember his face? As she stood there, brows furrowed in concentration, a woman wearing a long black dress made of a heavy material and a skirt made of belts walked up behind her clutching in her arms a baby boy with bright orange hair. Lulu stopped a short distance away from her charge, a look of worry on her normally composed features.

"Yuna? Is something wrong" Lulu said concern evident in the tone of her voice.

"Hmmm oh it's nothing lulu; I was Just thinking about how things are going to be the same." Yuna replied eyes still fixed on the horizon line.

"Yuna, you know you're the High summoner's daughter and the world's saviour for defeating Sin two years ago. I'm not here to spread your wings for you, if you wish to leave that is something only you can accomplish. Now child lets go back to the village." Lulu turned her expression set back into its usual serene countenance and started heading off back to the little village. 

Yuna sighed thoughts still racing through her mind and forcing herself to look away from the sea turned to follow Lulu.

~ "Ever thing has changed since I found this sphere of you, well thought I thought it was you, but even though it was not, all I have to do is whistle for you and you'll coming running, that's what you said right?"~

Yuna realising she had reached the village she forced herself to put her worries away, after all she had to live up to her reputation as the carefree saviour of Spira, just like she had as a Summoner so a smile lighting her delicate features she stepped out of the cool shadows of the jungle and in to the warm glow of the fire light that warned off the fiends at night. There everyone was, down by the main bonfire telling the story of how she and the others defeated Sin and saved Spira from Vegnagun, it was almost traditional now to tell it last thing before they retired for the night, almost a replacement for the prayers that they used to say before they slept . Yuna didn't feel like hearing the stories again, it brought nothing but pain trying to remember him.

Leaving the others to their story telling she walked to more secluded shadows of the now derelict temple and lay down among the plants that were slowly reclaiming it head back looking to the sky her eyes wide with wonder ,as if she was seeing the stars fall for the first time in over a thousand years. Yuna closed her eyes making a wish and hoped someday it would finally come true.

~" I wish... for someone... to be here.. and never.. disappear .."~

-Well there it was, the first part, I would very much appreciate people's opinions as to what I can do to improve the story as we've both never done this before -


	2. Prologue Part 2  Squall's story

Prologue Part 2 – Squall's Story

*Disclaimer* I own none of the Final Fantasy franchise and all that affiliated with it. I also do not own the plot, credit to which goes to LadyYuna10 my co-writer who which I beta for.

Squall and Irvine couldn't be more different, Squall a stoic somewhat stocky man standing at an average 5ft 8 was arguably the most handsome and desired man at Garden for both his looks and influential position as commander despite his icy personality and antisocial tendencies causing to seemingly have the verbal array of a bite bug. Irvine in contrast was an outgoing and flirtatious man the exact opposite of his commanding officer and friend. Standing at an impressive 6ft and garbed in cowboy gear he too cast an impressive image somewhat tainted by his love of theatrics and reputation as a womanizer. They did however at this precise moment in time have one thing very much in common they were both on the Ragnarock in space and rapidly losing control of the ship.

"So.. Uh...yeah, sorry about what happen to her, you know, Rinoa, I know you loved her." Squall clenched his had in to a fist eyes flickering to the man the co-pilot seat.

He was tired of hearing about Rinoa and how he had lost her to Edea, he appreciated the concern, but it wasn't as if it would bring her back. He didn't need to be reminded of this every time he ran in to one of his supposed friends, let alone at a time like this.

{Why is he bringing it up now, we could potentially die and he wants to have a heart to heart … I swear I}

"_Squall" _

Startled out of his internal monologue he looked over again to his co-pilot who was still rambling on the subject of her, seemingly oblivious to the peril their lives were currently in.

"_Squall" _

There it was again, that voice, but where was it coming from? Was it Ellone? It couldn't be she had stopped all her medalling after the mess she had made during the Sorceress War, so just what was it, it sounded an awful lot like; but it couldn't be, they'd killed her.

Irvine looked up from his ranting looked closely at Squall. "Squall, pall? Buddy?"

Squall's face was pale, his eyes glazed over as if in some kind of trance. Irvine waved is hand in front of Squall's face.

"SQUALL!" Irvine cried out, panic seeping in to his normally relaxed demeanour, but Squall's features remained passive, well more so than usual.

He couldn't understand it, sure Squall tended to drift off but never like this, the last time he'd seen something like this was when Rinoa had been possessed by that woman, but she was dead right? He'd been there when they had defeated her shot her with his own gun. A cold feeling of sickness washed over him.

"Ultemecia…"

The Ragnarok let out an ominous creaking noise and shook as it burst through the alien planet's atmosphere, jolting Irvine out of his terror induced stupor. He leapt up grabbing Squall and shoving him into one of the more stable seats buckling the other man in. He then turned to the controls and franticly tried to stable their flight path, mentally kicking himself for turning down Selphie's offer of lessons on how to pilot the thing. A feeling of dread coursed through his veins as he saw a little island rapidly coming closer.

"Squall... I'm sorry man" he said to the still oblivious commander and tensed himself ready for the enviable.

-Well there it was the second prologue, I found it much easier to write than the first one, not sure if it's any better though ^_^"


	3. Chapter 1  The Stranger

*Disclaimer* I own none of the Final Fantasy franchise and all that affiliated with it. I also do not own the plot, credit to which goes to LadyYuna10 my co-writer who which I beta for.

Rikku burst in to Yuna's room practically screaming from excitement, she couldn't believe her luck a new shiny machina right there on their door step, she was beginning to think nothing exciting ever happened in this sleepy little village and Yuna needed to stop moping around and get out more, She didn't like seeing her cousin so down all the time. She skipped over to Yuna's bed wasting no time in shaking her cousin awake to go explore the new find in true Gullwings fashion!

"Yunie!"

Yuna sighed in exasperation rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes, she really did love Rikku but sometimes a full night's sleep would be nice.

"What is it rikku?" Yuna asked as she turned her head to look at Rikku burying herself deeper in to the blankets in a vague attempt to muffle the other teen's joy filled cries.

Rikku flung herself on to the end of the bed still beaming oblivious to the looks of annoyance coming from the dishevelled 19 year old "A new machina crash landed outside last night. It looks like no one is in there but I didn't want to look at it without you, after all exploring is a group activity!"

Yuna sat up bleary eyed brows furrowed in concern "Rikku you do remember what happen when had to fight Vegnagun?"

Rikku frowned a little; it wasn't like Yuni to turn down the chance of an adventure. It was time to bring out the Rikku patented method of persuasion, the puppy eyes.

"Aww Yunie can we go please."

Yuna smiled in defeat giving in to the other childish antics, nothing could defeat those puppy eyes, and she was rather curious as to what the new machina was. Nodding in agreement she got up from her bed dressed and the two girls set off, racing from the room Rikku soon falling behind. As Rikku chased her voicing her indignation of being beaten for anyone in the vicinity to hear Yuna began to laugh this was what she missed, It felt like the good old days when Sin was gone for good and before he appeared destroying everything in his path. Still laughing Yuna reached the beach throwing her arms up in victory doing a small dance to celebrate. Turning to look for Rikku she froze sounds had suddenly started emanating from the supposedly abandoned machina she span round hands edging towards the hand guns holstered on her hips trying to identify the exact location of the sound.

Rikku staggered on to the beach exhausted still voicing her displeasure at loosing. Once she had regained the ability to breath she strode up to Yuna yelling, "Hey! Slow down next... time..." her rant however was soon cut short as she too heard the noises coming from the unfamiliar machina.

"Yunie.. i'm scared.." She whispered cowering behind Yuna who was staring intently at foreign object.

Yuna turned and smiled encouragingly at the smaller girl behind her. "Rikku don't worry i'm here."

The two girls began to approach the machina, Rikku still using Yuna as a makeshift shield. The machina was unlike anything either of the girls has seen before, over 100 meters in length and almost 60 meters high it rivalled most of the big transport ships they had ever been on let alone any forms of machina transport. The machina was a bright bloody red much like the Fafnir in the monster arena on the plains and also resembled a Drake, but with a narrower snout and longer limbs. Rikku however was distracted by what was attached to the side of the ship a very large partial cannon and 2 smaller laser guns. She had seen things like this before among the finds they had dug up in the desert before Home was destroyed, although never this advanced. It was hard to believe this could have even been made by a human or an Al-Bhed, maybe it was a monster? Or worse another version of Sin back for revenge, a theory that was only cemented in her mind when they stepped a little closer the thing started to make a deep growling noise.

Rikku who had worked herself in to a panic freaked out. "Okay! Bad idea, a really! REALLY! Bad idea." She turned to Yuna and proceeded to pull on her arm dragging her away from the massive 'monster' that was so determined to eat them "Uh.. Yunie i changed my mine let leave it alone for a while."

Yuna turned to Rikku trying her best not to laugh at her cousins irrational fear of what was clearly some sort of airship judging from the shape of it and engines which were reminiscent of those on the Celsius if a different shape. "Why Rikku? You said let's explore it. Didn't you?"

Rikku sagged in defeat "Yes, but I don't want to get eaten by a machina drake."

Yuna chuckled and put her arm round the petrified teen "It's alright Rikku it's just a machina, you can stay here and I'll go look. Okay?" hoping to calm her down a bit, or at least get her to let go of her arm.

Rikku glanced up at her cousin before retreating into the foetal position "Sure. I'll be right here... waiting" voice unusually quiet with fear.

Giving her cousin one last comforting glance Yuna cautiously her guns firmly clenched in her fists, walked up to the ship wondering if – and very much hoping – the noise was coming from anyone inside and Rikku's theory did not prove to be correct, she would never hear the end of it.

Yuna edged around the side of the ship the full extent of the crash damage becoming apparent. She didn't understand, why would the Al-Bhed be crashing ships in to Besaid? They were on good terms with the people now, it had to be the Al – Bhed who had made it no ex or still Yevonites could have made a ship so advanced but if Rikku's reaction was any indication this thing was not of Al-Bhed origin and it was defiantly not a drake, no matter what her cousin thought, so where was it from?

Yuna placed her hand on the ship to steady herself as she made to climb the hull to survey the area better only to fall back in shock springing to action guns raised as part of the structure burst open pouring out steam and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Eyes fixed on the opening and shaking a little from the shock she contemplated if it was safe to enter, resolving it would be no good to stand here she walked in her face stony with determination. The interior of the air ship was a mess. Debris from the crash lay strewn around the hanger smoke pouring out of various holes in the walls from the now destroyed wiring, after confirming the hanger was empty she set off up the stairs.

Yuna frowned as she lowered her weapons, The ship was eerily quiet, it was hard to believe anyone could have survived such a crash at all but what made it so strange was the fact there was nothing, not even a corpse, there had to be someone on board for the ship to have made it to the island. Yuna had almost given up the search when she heard what sounded like a moan of pain coming from the back room she made her way to the door which was sealed with a lock that was unknown to her, before she could study it in depth the door sprang to life, bursting open with a laboured grinding sound. Guns back in the offensive position she peered round the battered door frame and froze.

In the back of the room there was a man bloodied and bruised dark brown hair damp with sweat. He was dressed in well-worn leather and had several belts adoring his hips in a fashion that brought Lulu to mind, but what caught her attention the most were his eyes, they were a beautiful shade of light grey almost blue remaining unmarred by the angry red scar that ran diagonally across his pale face spanning his forehead and the bridge of his nose. Staring intently at the dazed looking male Yuna again became lost in thought.

{..Is it really you or.. is it just a dream}.


	4. Chapter 2  The Awakened Lion

*Disclaimer* I own none of the Final Fantasy franchise and all that affiliated with it. I also do not own the plot, credit to which goes to LadyYuna10 my co-writer who which I beta for.

Yuna stood in the decimated cockpit lost in her thoughts transfixed the semi-conscious male slumped against the control panel. Was it him? He didn't look familiar, and she couldn't remember the man from before ever piloting a ship, but still…

Meanwhile outside Rikku was leaning tentatively out from behind a rock that was serving as the less comforting - if more efficient - shield mark 2 trying to see into the opened hatch without actually going any closer to the unfamiliar machina. Rikku shivered nervously eying up the beast of a ship, Yunie had been gone for a while now, maybe she had been eaten by the drake look alike!

Rikku took in a deep breath and gathered her courage to set off on the hunt for her friend "Yunie! Are you okay?" Cried Rikku approaching the structure, silently hoping Yuna had not strayed too far in to the crashed ship.

"Please be okay! You haven't been eaten have you? Come on come out nothings come out…..yet… there's nothing in there let's just go home"

Inside Yuna pulled herself out of her musings shaking her head to rid it of the troublesome thoughts and picked her way through the piles of warped metal and broken glass every so often clambering over the chairs that had been severed from their positions by the shock of the impact. As she neared the stranger the extent of his injuries was becoming increasingly apparent, It was a wonder he was alive let alone able to move and for the most part conscious.

It was as she got closer to the stranger that Rikku's fearful cries drifted in through the partially collapsed roof. Realising it had been a good while since she had entered the ship she made her way over to one of the more stable looking control panels climbing on top and leaned over the edge of the smashed windscreen, careful to mind her exposed mid-drift on what little there was left in place of the glass pane till her cousin was just in view and called out

"Im fine Rikku, I haven't been eaten, it's just an airship nothing to be scared off"

Rikku jumped looking around wildly for her cousin relief flooding through her when she spotted a familiar if rather dirty face peering through a large hole high up in the ship. "Yunie! You're alive! Can we go now? Please?"

"Just a second rikku, can you contact Brother from here?" Rikku began looking for her small walkie talkie, stopping when her brain finished processing what her cousin had said

"What do you want me to call him for? Can we just go, why does he need to come see it? Make him come on his own then he can be the one in danger of being eaten!"

Yuna chuckled, " No Rikku I don't want him to come here just to see the ship, there's an injured man in here and I want Brother to help get him out, there's a lot of stuff in the way and he's probably too heavy for me to lift him over it"

Rikku's eyes lit up in delight "Ohhhh a man! What does he look like? Is he handsome? What colour are his eyes? Is he tall? I hope he's tall!"

"Not now Rikku" Sighed Yuna in exasperation. "He's really hurt, just call brother, okay? You can do all the ogling you want later" Yuna's eyes cast back to the stranger, "as long as he is still alive" she said under her breath eying the patches of blood on his clothes and deep purple bruises that contrasted so heavily with his pale almost grey skin. Without thinking Yuna slid down from her perch and walked over to the man's prone form and made to place he arm around his neck in an attempt to move him to somewhere less crowd by debris so she could get a better look at him. As her arm rested on his shoulder he let out a harsh gasp of pain his breathing becoming more laboured. Yuna's arm shot back mortified by the fact she had gone and caused him more pain. She gasped panicking as the movement caused more blood to seep out of a sizable wound on his shoulder from whay was presumably one of the any shards of glass littering the floor "Oh, I'm so sorry are you okay? Listen help is coming okay; just hold on a bit longer."

Still knelt beside him she yelled to her cousin "Rikku call Brother and tell him to hurry. He's really hurt, tell him to bring a stretcher too I don't think he can walk."

"Yeah I got it, He's not going to be happy about being bothered you know, especially not for another _man_" she cried back to her cousin who was starting to sound somewhat frantic and made to make the call. 

On the Celsius the atmosphere was much more relaxed, so relaxed that Brother was currently leant head on arms on the controls, sleeping, completely ignorant to his cousins voice calling to him via the walkie talkie resting next to his head on the dashboard . 

Rikku stood in the shadow of the fake drake and growled at the device in exasperation "Brother? Brother! Brother get up! **E lyh rayn oui chunehk oui mywo ycc! **Don't make me come get you!"

Yuna's voice sounded from inside the ship, "What's the matter where are they?"

"It's Brother he's fallen asleep, Ohh hang on I can hear something." Replied Rikku, ear pressed tight to the speaker where she could hear Brothers indistinct mumbling in Albhed. 

"**Drydc ed Yuna, Suna, vycdan" **

Rikku pulled the walkie talkie back from her ear in disgust, face bright red "**Ewwwww! Yunies ouin luiceh oui vnayg**!"

"Whats the matter? Is he coming to get us or not?" Enquired the voice of her brother's naptime pleasures.

"No! I mean don't worry, It's fine. I'll try again okay" Rikku, cringing raised the walkie talkie to her ear. "Anyone there that isn't a massive pervert?"

"Yep, that one is currently sleeping" Buddy answered, much to her relief," Hey Rikku what's going on?" 

Rikku composed herself the last of the blush dispelling itself from her cheeks "Hey buddy can you come picks us up? Were at the crash site we found someone and we, that is Yuna, thinks he's hurt."

"Who's hurt? I thought the people had been told to stay away from the site until some mechanics confirmed it was safe, come to think of it why are you and Yuna there? "

"We're the Gullwings! It's our duty to explore and we don't know, Yuna found him in the ship. Can you come please? Oh yeah Yunie also said something about a stretcher?" Rikku pleaded, she was getting fed up of standing on the beach it was boring not to mention getting dark. 

"Sure thing, don't think we have a stretcher though " replied Buddy laughing lightly, "Yuna's in the ship alone and there's a man, Brothers not going to like this" Buddy replied "if he finds out what you're doing you're going to be in such trouble..." His jibe however was greeted with nothing but static from the other communicator.

Still chuckling to himself about the potential mess the stranger could inadvertently cause  
>Buddy got into the driver's seat and set off to the crash site. Brother still muttering indistinctly about Yuna and Yu yevon knows what else.<p>

Back at The beach Yuna and Rikku, who had entered the air ship after much assurance it was safe, were carrying out the long hazardous process of getting the man out of the ship. It had taken a lot of manoeuvring and far too many cries of pain than either of the girls were comfortable with from the man, but eventually they had found a position in which they could carry the man between them without further damaging his shoulder which currently had a portion of Yuna's skirt wrapped round it as a rather inefficient tourniquet.

"He's going to be OK, isn't he Yunie?" asked Rikku as she teetered on the stairs under the weight of the man whose limp arm was slung around her shoulder, her eyes briefly flickering to her cousin who had a fair bit of the man's blood on her clothes and face from her position of holding him round the waist and lifting as not to aggravate the wound that was now slowly lessening in blood flow.

"Of course he is" Replied Yuna her worried tone contradicting the look of assurance on her face.

After a little more heaving the two women made it to the beach and lay the man down in the sand both sinking to the ground beside him. Yuna leaned over him to give his wounds a closer examination than the gloom of the ship had allowed.

Rikku, lent back on her hands, proceeded with studying his face. "Hmmmm, Yep!" 

"What?" Replied Yuna looking up at her cousin, face blank, momentarily baffled by the exclamation.

"I hoped he'd be hansom." Rikku said with a wink, a look of mischief on her previously nervous features "So…What's his name Yunie?"

Yuna turned a light shade of pink a small smile forcing its way on to her lips "I wish I knew Rikku, but he hasn't said anything since I found him." Rikku noticing her cousin's blush began to giggle in triumph at her discovery and Yuna suddenly feeling very self-conscious busied herself with tending to the stranger stroking the hair out of his face.

Before Rikku could unleash whatever accusation she had brewing in her deviously imaginative mind the man in question began to mumble.

"Yunie! He can talk! What's he saying? He's not dreaming like brother was is he, because I don't want to hear if he is"

Yuna's hand had wrapped itself round her Rikku's mouth stifling the noise "Be quiet and we can find out" she said leaning closer to the man nodding encouragingly at the man who seemed to be drifting in and out of unconsciousness, eyes unfocused.

"R...Rinoa.."

The two girls look at each other in confusion. "Rinoa? who's that? Is that his name do you think?" said Rikku "it's a rather feminine name for a mysterious stranger if you ask me" drawing herself in to a thinking position. 

Yuna shrugged brows drawn in confusion "I don't know really, it could be."

Before the girls could fully debate if Rinoa was an appropriate name for a mysterious scared stranger who pilots a drake shaped ship whilst wearing tight leather Buddy pulled up in the Gullwing's land transporter.

"Hey you need a lift? I had to leave the ship a way off cause that monstrosity is taking up all the landing spa…..Yu Yevon he's in bad shape" exclaimed Buddy the look of mirth leaving his face to be replaced with the worry mirroring that on the faces of the other people present. Before he could say anything further however Rikku launched herself at him in a full bodied hug that sent them both tumbling to the ground.

"Yay, home time! Thank you Buddy!" said Rikku as they both got up of the ground, Buddy rubbing at the back of his head trying to lessen the pain of the impact to little avail glaring at Rikku who was bouncing on her heals in joy at the prospect of finally leaving the creepy ship behind, suddenly remembered the purpose of Buddy's excursion she waved her arms in excitement turned to face the battered duo a little away,

"Oh yeah that's right, that's the man we told you about." She said pointing to the groaning form on the ground.

"I never would have guessed" said buddy rolling his eyes smirking at the over excited teen in front of him. "Now let's get him back to the Celsius shall we?" He said striding along the sands towards the new 'nuisance' and Yuna settling in front of her the man between them.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Yuna asked looking up at him from her spot on the ground still stroking the man's forehead absentmindedly.

Buddy shrugged his shoulders and shook his head his expression grim. "You know Brother is going to have a cow when he sees him" He said turning to Rikku who was seated in the transporter ready to go. 

"Like I care what that dummy thinks, Lets go already!"

Buddy snorted in amusement and stooped to lift the now fully unconscious man Yuna making sure his head and torso remained properly supported. "Oh well, I don't care. You proved the ship is safe which means I can set about tearing it apart sooner, it's going to make some pricy scrap that, might even be able to salvage some of it for the Celsius, and the only bad point is you survived" he said mockingly to both him and Yuna laughing at Rikku's shrieks of offense.

After Rikku had finished calling him every insult imaginable he let out a soft sigh, "Alright we're going to help him okay, but he's going into the cabin, the longer we can go without Brother finding out the better. Last thing we need is him getting all angsty over Yuna here spending time with other men especially ones that fall out of the sky, okay?"

Yuna and Rikku nodded In agreement. So Buddy, helping Yuna, placed the unknown man on the transporter and began the short dive back to the Gullwing's Ship. Yuna who had remained in the back with the man looked down at his now somewhat peaceful if still horribly pale face and went back to stroking his forehead, mind dwelling on the change this would mean to their daily lives with an invalid to look after.

{"Well... I got what I wanted, there's a new journey ahead…..I don't think it's with you though.. But even so.. I have a whole new life to puzzle over….}


	5. Chapter 3  The Lone Sniper

**Chapter 3 - The Lone Sniper**

**Rating: **T (Precautionary) **  
>AN: <strong>Well here it is another chapter! I'm sorry that it took me so long to get it out but I've been much busier than I predicted I would be. I'm going to try and get stuff out more though as long as my co-writer is free too. I would like to thank yunadance6 and Dragon's Clan for the reviews. I honestly didn't think I would get any so it's nice to know people like the fic. I've tried to improve my grammar and punctuation. Not sure how successful it has been though ^^".

**Story Note** - "_Italics_" = Thoughts

***Disclaimer* **I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise and all affiliated with it. I also do not own the plot, credit to which goes to LadyYuna10 my co-writer. Now let's get down to business shall we.

Irvine stared up at the collapsed roof of the cockpit that he was currently trapped under, his eyes struggling to focus in the dim light, contemplating just how screwed he currently was. The last thing he could remember clearly was watching in horror as the force of the impact sent him, and his seat, flying backwards and leaving an unconscious Squall behind.

"_Squall_."

Why was it always his fault? His whole friendship with Squall, if you could even call it that, was just a list of missions gone wrong interspersed with the odd awkward conversation with Squall inevitably getting hurt because of it. First Matron, then Rinoa, and now this; why couldn't he do anything right? He didn't deserve to have Squall for a friend; Squall was always there to do his duty, to fix peoples problems, at least in a practical sense, and despite all of his issues still be a great leader. And what had he done to return the favour? Get his Girlfriend Killed and now possibly him too.

"_I'm so sorry Squall. I really am useless. I'm sorry I messed up again. It's just all too much there just so much pressure. I didn't sign up for this! I only stayed because I thought we could be happy again, I finally got my family back, but. Oh Hyne Squall just please, please be okay. I don't want to lose anyone else."_

Irvine sighed and fought back the frustration and self-doubt that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't fail again, not while Squall could be dying mere meters away, he had to help Squall it was the least he could do after all the trouble he'd caused. He couldn't keep depending on others. It was time for him to stand up and actually do something for a change!

"_I'm going to help you Squall , for once I'm not going to mess this up. I promise"_

Forcing himself to take action Irvine began to manoeuvre his body so he would be at the right angle to try and squeeze out of the small gap between where the collapsed roofing met the control panel, and quickly realised it was not going to be as smooth an operation as he had envisioned, for a start he was still buckled into his chair. Chuckling at his own stupidity, he lifted his arms wincing as the bruised and battered flesh flexed with the bending of his elbows, and began the fumble with the buckle. After some effort, and much cursing about darkness and impractical Estharian technology the clasp gave way. Letting out a cry of victory he began the laborious task of easing his aching body out of his seat and across the obstacle course that was shattered glass from the now absent window and towards the light that was streaming through the hole.  
>Irvine straightened up brushing the dirt from his clothing, his leg joints clicking in protest after having spent so long bent at a seated angle while he was unconscious. It had taken some squeezing and a lot of bending at strange angles but he had eventually gotten through the hole. Reviling in his new found freedom he stretched making a mental note to hunt down whoever had designed the ship, for both its inadequate controls and uncomfortable furnishings. Noticing his beloved hat was absent he scoured the entrance to the hole of despair as he had mentally dubbed it, and smiled as he spotted it a little way in and reached in grabbing it and smoothly returning it to its rightful place. He looked back at the hole of despair and felt a small burst of triumph. He had done it. Now it was time to find Squall and get out of here, maybe for once he was going to do something right. His confidence and cocky grin returned and began to call for Squall as he turned to face the cabin interior.<p>

"Alright Squall. Time to get up."

Irvine's eye's widened as he surveyed the scene in front of him. This was not good. Not good at all. The ship was in ruins, metal and glass littered the floor, the bright morning light streamed in through the massive gap in the ship's hull bouncing off the debris causing glittering reflections on the walls.  
>Irvine stared at the carnage before him and promptly decided to erase that mental note to harm whoever had designed those chairs. If it weren't for the fact he had it to soften his landing he had a horrid feeling he would be in a much worse state that he was currently; but enough what-if-ing he had a job to do, and he couldn't scum to his fears, not this time. He had a Commander to look out for after all. There was only one problem; the Commander didn't appear to be here. Pushing down the feeling of panic that was becoming all too familiar Irvine strode forward through the wreckage calling out for his wayward leader.<p>

"Squall. Buddy?"

He searched the cabin from top to bottom, and there was nothing. No indication whatsoever as to where Squall had vanished to. The only trace of Squall's existence was a small pool of dried blood near the seat he had strapped him into earlier. Irvine swore and slumped in to the now empty chair, rubbing his legs trying to return some normal feeling into them, his smile and optimism gone. He couldn't believe Squall would just wander off without him. He was a cold misery, but he wasn't that bad.

"_Maybe he does blame me for what happened, and let's face it he has every right to; but even so I __can't__ believe he would just leave me here to die. __He's__ far too loyal to have done that, not to mention logical, Gardens forever preaching how it's always best to have back up when in unfamiliar territories and to take care of your comrades. Only the idiots far too logical to go against it, it's probably why he keeps diving head first in to every conceivable mess, doesn't know when to stop following orders." _

That was it, orders and procedure! Irvine jumped out of his seat grinning and ignoring his protesting limbs set off at a quick pace towards the open door way.

"_Of __course!__ Squall's logical! He probably realised that I __wasn't__ waking up anytime soon so decided to go assess the damage to the rest of the ship while leaving me out of harm, and his, way. Just like Garden would have advised."_

Filled with renewed hope Irvine set off down the corridor ignoring the debris that kept getting caught underfoot and calling for his missing comrade, but it soon became very much apparent that Squall was not to be found in any of the ships various hidey holes. Irvine however was not disheartened reasoning that on completion of examining the damage done to interior of the ship he would have gone outside to finish his work, so after a brief detour to collect his shotgun from the storage compartment where he had left it when they first embarked on their mission he set off to explore the new planet, and to hopefully find his Commander in more or less one piece.  
>An eager Irvine stepped onto the beach and was promptly blinded by the sunlight. Reeling from the sudden change and squinting in a vain attempt to save his retinas from the offending assailant he gazed upon his surroundings in awe. It was, beautiful. There was nothing like it on his planet that was for sure. The beach itself was somewhat reminiscent of Balamb's with its white sands and bright blue ocean, but it was what was in the distance that was truly incredible. It was like something out of a fairy tale, or a text book on Centra from before the Luna Cry. It was a rainforest, not like the stunted one that grew around the orphanage, but a proper fully fledged hive of activity and colour. Irvine stared in wonderment he could just about make out spices of plant that now only existed in miniature potted plant form but here were meters high, this entire island was an ecologists dream come true. Irvine took one last appreciative glance then tore his attention away from the scene before him; he had something much more important, if far less interesting, to find.<p>

"Squall! Hey Squall! I'm up! Squall? "

Irvine frowned there was nothing, not even an unenthusiastic 'whatever', just bird song and the sound of the waves lapping against the ship and shore. Things had just got much worse.

"_Okay, now I can panic. Maybe he __passed__ out? He __can't__ have gone that far. If I circle the ship I should find him."_

"He's not here."

Irvine jumped in shock, bringing his gun up and span around to find a woman staring at him, a child clutched in her arms and a look of contempt on her face. Gasping in relief he replaced his gun to a less threatening position by his side and looked down at the source of the sneak attack.

"Hyne Lady! Don't creep up on people like that! Are you trying to get shot? You could give a guy a heart attack."

The woman snorted, as if the very concept of this dishevelled dirty teen shooting anyone was about as likely as Squall developing a burning desire to take up public speaking professionally. The woman, still glaring at him from under several layers of meticulously applied eyeliner and mascara, continued her less than civil greeting.

"You won't find what you're looking for here, so I suggest you leave the island before you cause any more trouble. The dock is that way I'm sure you can get a lift out of here soon enough."

And with one final sneer and glare she proceeded to turn sharply on her heel make her way back up the beach. Irvine stood there his mouth a gape. No woman had ever been quite so downright rude to him, maybe he was losing his touch, but then he had just nearly shot her and her kid, and crashed a ship into their home, and most importantly she was currently his only chance at knowing where Squall was so as uncivil as she was she was his best shot, and besides she was kind of hot. Shaking off his surprise at her behaviour Irvine jogged up to her and placed himself between her and the tree line, forcing her to stop her march back to wherever she had come from. The woman stared up at Irvine in a manner that very much reminded him of the time when he was four and broke matron's favourite tea pot after he and Selphie knocked it over playing in a room they went meant to. It was not a good feeling. Pushing the sudden feelings of childhood inadequacy to the back of his mind he gave his best charming grin and proceeded to try to undo yet another mess he had inadvertently caused.

"Hey, Ma'am, just wait a second, please. Look I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, and I'd love to make it up to such a lovely woman as yourself sometime, in any way I can, but at the moment I need to find my friend. It's all my fault we ended up here and I really need to know if he's here or not, so please I could really use your help if you could be so kind."

The woman rolled her eyes and proceeded to gently rock her son who was burbling away to himself and trying to grasp the long clumps of black hair that hung down from her fringe. Smiling slightly she turned her gaze back to the man in front of her, the silly grin still slapped across his face.

"Like I said he's not here."

And with that she side stepped around the dumbfounded teen and made a steady beeline towards the footpath. Irvine turned and stared at her retreating figure, he just couldn't believe it. His charm always worked!

"_She's either more oblivious than Squall or has the heart of Shiva. Either way __I'll__ break her, I have to Squall's life may depend on it! __Besides,__ no one can resist my charms forever." _

And with that he gathered his resolve and set off after the gothic ice queen, who remained blissfully unaware at his attempts to charm the information out of her, her son had just discovered the fur on her dress which was far more entertaining than some man-child-in-a-hats attempt at playing interrogator.

"_This is ridiculous; she should have at least told me something by now!" _

Grumbled Irvine as he followed the woman, although now silently, through the vegetation. Resigned to following her until he found someone more helpful he looked up from the path to get a closer look at his surroundings, and sighed. It really was stunning here. The forest was interspersed with caves and lagoons; it was everything you could want in a home, as long as all the women here weren't quite as cold as the one he was currently stalking through the canopy. He was incredibly lucky really. Here he was on an entirely different planet and yet the air was breathable, it had the same ecosystem down to the plants and some animals, and the people even shared the same language as him. The cultures weren't even that different if what the woman was wearing was any indication. Her dress with all its leather and black was similar to what some of the kids who hung around the clubs in Deling wore, maybe the Centra had perfected space travel before their empire collapsed, hell if they could build Gardens and call monsters from the moon they could manage a Spaceship. As he contemplated his good fortune a man dressed in possibly the strangest outfit he'd ever seen began to make his way towards them along the dirt path, his giant quiff crossed with a cow's lick of orange hair remaining oddly stationary in the light breeze and greeted the woman with a light kiss on the cheek.

"There you are Lulu, you been to see the machina?"

The man had an odd an accent as he did hairstyle; maybe things were more different here than he'd first thought. The man looked up and met Irvine's eyes and smiled which Irvine returned, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

"_Well __he's__ odd, but at least __he's__ a dam sight more friendly than the Ice Queen here." _

The man turned back to the woman still smiling,

"Who's the new guy?"

Lulu as he now knew her to be, turned to face him the same cold look on her face as before.

"He came from inside the machina."

The reassuring grin the man had previously been sporting melted away to be replaced with a look somewhere between anger and fear, his brow furrowed as he turned back to look at the woman.

"From inside the machina, ya?"

Lulu nodded and turned her gaze once again to Irvine who shuffled nervously on the spot under the joint scrutiny of the couple.

"Yes, it would appear it's his fault its here."

The man turned to face him once again eyeing him like he was some sort of dangerous animal that could turn and attack and slowly edged his way between him and the woman and child. Irvine could slowly feel his chances of finding Squall draining away for the second time that day and decided that a strategic intervention was needed, before he ended up being lynched by the natives. Stooping whilst keeping his eyes on the couple he placed his gun on the ground, raised both his hands to show he was disarmed, and addressed the man in the most diplomatic tone he could muster.

"Im sorry, look, please, you have to help. My name is Irvine Kinneas, I'm a mercenary from an organisation called Garden. I was on the way back from a mission with my commanding officer when the ship we were traveling in suffered technical failure causing it to crash land on the island, which I am extremely sorry for, and in any other situation id get straight to assisting with the clean-up. It's just that. Well you see. My commanding officer, no my friend, is missing, and I just have to find him. I owe him that much after all I've put him through. I'm just looking for information that's all then I promise I'll be out of your hair. I just want to find him"

Irvine swallowed nervously, if they turned him down now it was back to square one.

"Please listen, please."

The man seemed to contemplate what he said for a moment his eyes flickering back to the woman an unidentifiable look passing between them. The man turned back to him.

"So what's this guy's name?"

Irvine's eyes widened slightly, they hadn't rejected him yet now if only they had the information. 

"Squall, Squall Leonhart. He's about five foot 8, brown hair, blue eyes, wears a lot of black and has a scar across his forehead and nose. Have you seen him? Please I need to find him he was acting, funny, before we lost control. I'm worried about him"  
>Lulu narrowed her eyes and began to set off in the direction the man had come calling back to Irvine.<p>

"There's nobody on the island who fits that description, now go"

The man reached back and put his hand on the woman's shoulder stopping her. Eyes still fixed on the Cowboy.

"Hold your Chocobos Lulu. What do you mean funny?" he said, the look of fear replaced with curiosity.

Irvine cast his mind back to those fateful moments before it had all gone so terribly wrong

"I don't know. It's hard to explain."

"Try, unless it's too much for that brain of yours." Said Lulu, rolling her eyes.

Irvine bit back a retort and continued trying to explain what had happened, shutting his eyes in concentration.

"He was all cold, and so still. It was like he was dead but alive all at once. The last time I saw that was when Rinoa was possessed by ….." He felt that familiar lump grow in his throat.

"_Ultimecia, but they had killed her. __They'd__ lost friends cause of her, she __couldn't__ be back. Not again. He __couldn't__ do it again."_

Irvine felt a hand rest upon his shoulder and looked up at the man who had come to rest in front of him, brown eyes full of concern.

"You've really been through a lot, ya?"

Irvine cast his eyes back to his shoes, which had suddenly become very interesting, and let out a forced chuckle.

"Yeah, you could say that."

The man took a step back, exchanged a quick look with the woman who nodded, and placing his hands on his waist smiled.

"Tell you what. You can stay with me and Lulu till you're all fixed up and found your friend. That sound good, ya?"

Irvine's gaze shot back up.

"You mean it? I don't want to be a bother."

The man laughed and gave Irvine a slap on the back that knocked the air out of his lungs.

"Ya, it's cool!"

Irvine regained his breath wincing from the impact and grabbed his gun from its position by his feet swinging it up on to his shoulder smiling in relief.  
>"That would be awesome, umm, I'm sorry didn't get your name." said Irvine sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.<p>

The man gave another short loud laugh and pointed a thumb at his chest.

"Names Wakka, and that over there is my wife Lulu and the kids my son Vidina"

Irvine raised his eyebrows in surprise, "That's your wife?" "_How on earth did ice queen __end up__ with __Mr__ happy here?" _

Wakka nodded, the pride practically oozing off of him.

"Ya. She's mine alright, she can be a bit harsh but that's just Lulu, been like it ever since I met her. I remember when…"

Irvine was however saved the speech by the woman in question demanding they hurried up as Vidian was hungry and she wanted to sit down so she could feed him. Exchanging a look with Wakka that is universally known between men as "Women huh" they both set off towards the village.  
>It took them another 20 minutes or so to get to the village, although it seemed to go on far longer thanks to Wakka's incessant questioning about everything and anything, from the hat Irvine wore to sports on his home planet. It soon became apparent that Wakka had more than a minor obsession with something called Blitzball, and was most upset to discover that Irvine had never even heard of it let alone played it. It wasn't until he assured him that he would give it a go sometime that Wakka let it drop. Before they could get on to the subject of his religion, something that Wakka seemed particularly interested in, they arrived at the village. Irvine stopped in his tracks. This was nothing like his home planet, not at all. He'd never seen anywhere quite so, primitive, before. The housing seemed to mainly consist of a type of hut made from wood and brightly coloured canvas apart from the large stone building that stood right at the back of the village. There were no visible power lines or any signs at all of electricity as for running water there was nothing but a small well. It was as if he had stepped back in time. As for the people, apart from a small group of men in the same outfit as Wakka, the others seemed to dress in rather basic clothing that consisted of rough cloth and animal skins. It was so strange, if they had the knowledge of technology as Wakka's ranting had suggested how come there was none here?<p>

"Something wrong" said Wakka , noticing the look of shock on Irvine's face.

Irvine looked over at the man who looked somewhat unnerved by his reaction.

"No its fine" Irvine replied reassuringly. "Just a bit tired is all."

"I'll bet" said Wakka giving him another pat on the shoulder, although not as bone crushing as the last much to Irvine's relief, and pointed over to a hut in the corner of the village. "That's mine and Lulus place you can rest up there".

Irvine looked at the small purple covered hut and gave Waka a small smile

"Thanks, I'll go now. If that's okay?"

"Ya sure. Go ahead. I'll wake you if there's any news of your friend."

"Thanks again."

And with one last nod of acknowledgment Irvine pushed through the small crowed that had gathered and retreated into the solitude the flimsy structure offered. He looked round at the homely but still so very basic interior and sank down to one of the sleeping pallets that littered the floor. The hut was bigger than it had looked from the outside, but it was still painfully different from what he was used to. Irvine sighed. It was going to much harder to find Squall without any of the technological advantages he was used to, high speed transport for one, but he'd made a promise to himself, and he wasn't going to break it. And with that Irvine lay down and turned his attentions away from the future and towards the more immediate issue of sleeping. 


End file.
